How to Avoid Wireless LAN Security Pitfalls

[Suzane]

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Hello Friends,

Can anyone suggest me how to Avoid Wireless LAN Security Pitfalls, because as we see there are lots of threats to the wireless LAN even though on the other side it has lots of benefits to us.

Other than this it should have large no of security pitfalls, how to get rid of this please help.

[Jannat]

studies show that wireless workers are more productive, less pressured and save businesses money. Gartner, Inc., for instance, finds WLANs to be cheaper to install than wired LANs, especially for small organizations. And once they're in, wireless LANs are less expensive to operate and maintain.

But wireless LANs are not everywhere they could be. Enterprises have heard the horror stories of competitors and crackers sitting in a parking lot and accessing the corporate network. Unfortunately most of these stories are true. Gartner predicts that by the end of this year, a third of all enterprises will suffer a serious security exposure due to a wireless LAN.

The reason? The main protector of wireless LANs, the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) standard, remains full of holes. Research from Cahners' In-Stat and META Group suggest the lack of security is the biggest deterrent to widespread adoption of WLANs.

But the more IT professionals learn about WLAN technology, and its newer security options, the better moving to wireless sounds.

[Billie]

1. Make conservative investments. Although wireless equipment costs continue to decline, the technologies are still new and evolving. That means product life cycles tend to be short.teve Novak, CIO at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, has set a policy for the global law firm to make incremental investments in emerging technology every few years instead of undertaking a big technology refresh every five to seven years, which has been the traditional approach to building corporate networks.
   
2. Know what you're buying. Despite tight IT budgets, businesses have a wasteful habit of buying more wireless LAN equipment than they need because they haven't fully researched what's included with the products they're buying, says Craig Mathias, an analyst at wireless consulting firm Farpoint Group. A common mistake is purchasing an intrusion-prevention system without realizing one is included as part of a wireless LAN product.
   
3. Security is a top priority. Equipment should be compliant with the 802.11i standard for authenticating and encrypting wireless LANs. Enforce security policies, such as requiring hard-to-crack passwords and limiting the number of unsuccessful logins. Each laptop should have firewall software that's integrated with the primary corporate firewall. Mobile workers should use a VPN. To ease administration, consider buying security software that supports multiple functions. IPass Inc. offers client software that includes device authentication, patch management, and policy enforcement in a single interface.